If you are not familiar with this Suite or would like to know more about
its origins before reading the review, click here

This disc is listed as number 45 in the continuing series of the complete
Sibelius from the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä,
and what a revelatory series it has been (not that I have heard anything
like 45 discs from the series). The obvious comparison here is with the earlier
BIS recording of the Lemminkäinen Suite by the Gothenburg Symphony conducted
by Neeme Järvi (BIS CD 294). BIS have a policy of never deleting a CD
so that should still be available, but the two discs demonstrate the progress
in presentation that BIS has made in the last 15 years. The earlier disc
did not even list the name of the work on the spine; simply SIBELIUS/Gothenburg
S.O./Järvi which has always bugged me. Gone is that full page type-writer
script that Marianne von Bahr used to adopt, now replaced by more extensive
notes in a smart two-column layout in a clearer font. The earlier disc contained
only the suite so came expensive at 49'24. As with the rest of the complete
Sibelius series there are extensive additions, as listed above, producing
a very full disc (can 79'27 be exceeded?) with early drafts so that the
development of the work can be followed. BIS have always prided themselves
on the natural quality and dynamic range of their recordings. This has not
always been rewarding (witness the Wigglesworth Shostakovich series which
incorporates a dynamic range which can only be described as extreme that
actually impairs listening pleasure- alsoreviewed this month).
The Järvi recordings from the Gothenberg Concert Hall had always been
good. The Järvi Legends had a fairly close sound but a little
over-reverberent in the bass, clouding detail and emphasising a constant
hall rumble and, more seriously, making the bass drum severely
over-dominant. I took the disc under review to a friend who has what I can
only describe as a High End Hi-Fi system and we were totally captivated by
the naturalness of the sound and immediately struck by its 'rightness'. The
clarity of the separation of the different string divisions constantly held
the attention. Having listened to the Suite we were able to declare this
the finest recording we had ever heard! (see
below)We had been able to totally immerse ourselves
in the music and the detail of the performance, hearing it afresh and finding
all sorts of echoes, or rather pre-echoes, of other Sibelius works that had
slipped by before. So I can declare the Järvi recording to be totally
outclassed - but what about the performance?

The two run to almost exactly the same overall length but there are subtle
differences. Vänskä is usually slightly faster than Järvi
in Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island and that pays dividends
right from the opening. Just after the horn introduction the typical
Sibelian tremulous, scurrying, riding rhythm in the strings and woodwind
is much slower with Järvi and lacks impetus which immediately weakens
the work. Järvi's Lemminkäinen seems more interested in the scenery
than the maidens! The tempo differences are only slight but tell. Surprisingly,
following that opening, the main climax is actually more driven by Järvi,
to its benefit, although he then relaxes a little too much at the close.
It is the overwhelming clarity and definition of the horns, cymbals and triangle,
the more appropriate bass drum and the wider sound stage given to
Vänskä that wins the day.

When popped into concert performances The Swan of Tuonela is presented
as a thing of beauty - but it is not. It is a piece of premonition; there
is an underlying malevolence, a disturbing evil lurking in the rolling bass
drum and the low harp which turns it into a spectral beauty. Vänskä's
is the most affecting performance I have come across. He takes it very slowly,
exquisitely moulding the phrasing, with a more distantly placed cor-anglais
than with Järvi and one with a rounded softer tone. I have never heard
a cor-anglais with less honk. Again, Vänskä has made me hear this
piece anew.

Vänskä's Lemminkäinen in Tuonela makes Järvi sound
prosaic. Vänskä starts very, very slowly and maintains the mood
of evil from the previous piece with waves of dark sound from the double
basses moving gradually in an accelerando across the string sections with
the amazing definition this recording permits. Järvi's accelerando is
nowhere near so marked and I have no score to validate Vänskä's
approach, but it is remarkably effective because of the supple way in which
Vänskä constantly modulates the tempi. Sibelius repeats this passage
again, culminating in brass chords that sound almost as if they are sucked
rather than blown. This effective idea was later utilized in the second symphony.
But Vänskä does not always get it his own way and in the last movement,
Lemminkäinen's Return, it is Järvi who gets
Lemminkäinen on his homeward journey most speedily. Once again,
though, it is the Vänskä recording that allows me to hear more
clearly what is happening in the orchestra instead of the more enveloping
sound that Järvi was given. This is a piece of tremendous forward motion
and adrenalin rush and Järvi plays it with tremendous panache. Sibelius
has a tendency to pull his climaxes here and it is Järvi who reaches
the more resounding conclusion but there is no doubt in my mind that it is
Vänskä who wins the final honours and this recording must
have a place in every Sibelius collection. In the same way that Rachmaninov's
Symphonic Dances should not be dismissed but placed on a
par with his symphoies so it should be with Sibelius' Four legends.

For comparison the timings are:

Järvi

Vänskä

Suite Overall

49'24

49'08

Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island

17'51

15'12

The Swan of Tuonela

8'49

9'27

Lemminkäinen in Tuonela

15'41

17'41

Lemminkäinen's Return

6'31

6'27

Reviewer

Len Mullenger

The origin of the Lemminkäinen Suite

'Symphonic Poems on motifs from the Lemminkäinen myth' was Sibelius'
title for these four pieces.

The notes by Andrew Barnett are very comprehensive, a model of their kind
and are heavily drawn upon here.

The inspiration for the Legends came from the Finnish national epic
Kalevala published in collection by Elias Lönnrot in 1835,
revised 1849. It became a symbol of national identity for the oppressed Finns.
In 1893 Sibelius decided to attempt to win an opera prize and commenced work
on The Building of the Boat but abandoned it after a year and
with it the influence of Wagner on his style of composition. Many of the
ideas for the opera were then included in the four Legends and the overture
for The Building of the Boat became utilized as The Swan of
Tuonela. It was at this time that the symbolist art of Böcklin and
Enckell was in fashion with their images of swans, water and death
(Böcklin's Insel der Toten was the inspiration for Rachmaninov's
Isle of the Dead and surely for the Swan of Tuonela as well).

In none of these pieces does Sibelius attempt to provide more than the mood
of the account in the Kalevala and there is no attempt at following
a narrative. Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island also
known as Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of Saari depicts
Lemminkäinen sailing to Saari and finding the menfolk are all away.
He enjoys himself among the women until having to flee upon the return of
their menfolk.

The Swan of Tuonela The first edition of the score was headed
:'Tuonela, the land of death, the hell of Finish mythology, is surrounded
by a large river with black waters and a rapid current, on which the Swan
of Tuonela floats majestically, singing' As stated this was developed from
the overture of The Building of the Boat, written at a time when Sibelius
was heavily influenced by Wagner and the mood of this piece is reminiscent
of the Lohengrin Overture and the cor anglais solo has a precedent
in the opening of the third act of Tristan and Isolde. To quote Prof
Erik Tawaststjerna 'the bass clarinet and the great drum, the "col legno"
playing of the strings and the harp's timbre's in the lower register produce
towards the end a sound effect like the shadow of death in Mahler's score.....
the final passage on the cello, which rises to the highest register of the
instrument, fixes a vision of the dead souls in the eternal twilight of Tuonela

Lemminkäinenin Tuonela

In order to win the hand of the daughter of the Northland, Lemminkäinen
has been set the task of killing the Swan of Tuonela but is himself
ambushed and killed by the son of the Lord of Tuonela who cut his corpse
into eight pieces and threw them into the Tuonela river. These are rescued
by his mother whose magic powers then restore him back to life.

Lemminkäinen's Homeward Journey
(Lemminkäinen's Return)

the score explains....'Exhausted after a long series of wars and battles,
Lemminkäinen decides to return home. He transforms his cares and
worries into war-horses and sets off. After a voyage that is rich in adventure,
he finally arrives in his native land, where he rediscovers the places that
are so full of childhood memories'

After the horrors of the previous movements this is an ecstatic homecoming
and was meant to encompass the pride the Finnish people should feel for their
country.

Also on this CD is the original 1896 version of Lemminkäinen
and the Maidens of the Island and Lemminkäinen's Homeward
Journey as conducted by Sibelius at the first performance in 1896. The
influential critic, Karl Flodin wrote - 'the music sounds positively
pathological: it leaves mixed feelings, painful and difficult to put into
words .. music like the Lemminkäinen portraits depress me, make me
miserable, exhausted and apathetic'. Is it any wonder Sibelius felt driven
to reappraise and revise his score on a number of occasions between
1897 and 1939. Minor revisions were made to the first Legend but the Homeward
Journey was given a different ending (appended on this disc) and then brutally
cut to half its length. In 1947 Sibelius finally decided the correct running
order of the movements with The Swan of Tuonela in second place. The
changes made are detailed in the booklet provided but, as with the fifth
symphony, I marvel at how astute Sibelius was with his changes and how they
markedly improve the succinctness of the work

additional note:

Having praised the recording quality of this issue I was perplexed and
disturbed to see Gramophone review this disc with the following
comment:

" Who knows were the sound more congenial, I might have responded more
favourably. Producer Robert Suff has since confirmed to me that the recording
sessions were indeed dogged by technical gremlins. BIS has done its level
best to 'rescue' the master tape .....etc"
Andrew Achenbach

This made me feel rather foolish (although I do trust my ears) until Hi Fi
News also gave this disc an A rating. I contacted BIS and was told by they
did have a technical problem, but the postproduction has rectified almost
all of it.

I was congratulated "on your thoroughness and interest and seriosity".